11706/Games in the Dark: Stairs in the Woods

Games in the Dark: Stairs in the Woods
Date of Scene:	25 June 2022
Location:	Robinson Park - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	On a first outing since her return, The Bats employ Phoebe's expertiese to try and work out how a random stairway appeared in the park. Realizing that it was a trap as Red Hood, Red Robin and X-23 battle monsters trying to drag them to the Ominous Stairs, Batman asks Balm to destroy the stairs if possible. With the stairs destroyed, two of Gotham's finest recovered from it, Phoebe has a better idea of who is behind the incidents -- and what their intent is when they offer to trade the lives of others for hers.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Tim Drake, Laura Kinney, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    ROBINSON PARK - GOTHAM CITY

    Strange things are happening in the city tonight. In a wooded area of Robinson Park, a stairway has appeared. Inordinarily ornate, though weathered and old, the stairway appears to have fourteen steps -- going up to a second floor. The stairway is ornate, each balluster being carved with having a stately shape in the colonial style and, at the top of each balluster there is carved into it a hand, holding onto the banister from beneath. Moss and vines have grown up around the stairway, as if it has been there for months, if not years.

    However, this stairway is odd. It was reported this morning to Gotham PD with the preface of 'I have a bad feeling about this, but --"

    There is no record of a stairway having been here before. No record of a house, and the two Gotham PD officers who had gone to investigate haven't reported back since this morning.

    The area around the stairway has been wreathed in darkness and shadow as the sun sets on Gotham City, and an ominous feeling pervades the area, like a stench that cannot quite be placed.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Standing opposite the staircase, Red Robin considers this new intrusion into Robinson Park from what is, in his estimate, a safe distance. A good 10 meters at least. He's got no mystical senses of his own but he does possess an acute Something's Not Right radar...

    And Something's Not Right.

    He circles around the site, weaving in-between trees as he maintains the perimeter around the anomaly. In the grass his footsteps are basically silent, but amongst all this green, the red and black of his gear makes him stick out like a sore thumb. Moreso than the staircase itself, which strangely looks like it's been here the entire time, despite Tim's certainty (and ample photographic evidence) that it wasn't there before.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Gotham City, for all it's flaws there are still plenty of good people here. People who really don't deserve whatever bad things are usually out there lurking in the shadows. Or in this case public parks.

And so X-23, better known to her friends as Laura Kinney, has responded to the Outsiders call for back up.

Not that she's mystically inclined herself. But her keen senses and lack of fear bordering on unhealthy make her ideal for blundering into mysteries and somehow getting through alive. It also helps she can heal through just about anything.

And worst case? Well one of her sisters is some sort of professional demon hunter if what Gabby says is true.

Jason Todd has posed:
The odd and unsettling were quickly becoming his new line of work, Red Hood thought to himself as he rolled into the park. He parked his bike and made his way over to the reported, er, anomaly? Seeing Red Robin he moves closer. "Well. It's probably not leading to heaven. Right?" Bad joke. He looks back to the stairway. It certainly wasn't giving off a comforting impression at all.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There's definitely something not right about this stairway, and it's an awful feeling that strikes against her own senses.

    Here on strict permission of 'thin ice' protocol is Balm, staying back as Red Robin inspects the perimeter, and she looks over to Red Hood as he shows up.

    The young woman drops down from her perch in a handy tree nearby Jason, uncharacteristically dour. Probably because she's in trouble with Tim and is trying her best to be good. She gives a short wave to Red Hood, and then turns towards the ominous dark stairway.

    She takes a breath, stretching her fingers in her gloves, and looking over to Tim she hesitates. She's wearing her Balm armor, her hood up as she shifts her weight, and steps forward. She draws a bit closer than Tim, within six meters of the stairway, and she draws down to one knee.

    She brings her fingers and presses them to the dirt.

    Slowly, a glowing circle forms around the stairwell, and it eases the ominious feeling.

    Tim would be able to confirm that there are two steps of footprints in the grass, depressed and into the dirt with GPD-issued boots. Two officers had been dispatched to investigate and had not returned.

    The ominious feeling eases, but doesn't go away. Its a weight that pushes down on the shoulders of those in attendence.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Once Jason makes his presence known, Tim looks over, greeting him with a silent chin-lift. The joke would probably warrant at least cracking a smile in other circumstances, but this staircase is just... too damn creepy. It's got Tim on edge, tensed just slightly more than usual.

    Proper early Robin stick-up-his-butt levels of vague discomfort circa his first year of wearing the cape.

    "X-23, any trace of the police officers leaving the area?" he asks, despite knowing what the answer is going to be. Really, he'd like to find them off at the nearest corner bodega snacking on some donuts, but life in Gotham is never that easy.

    His fingers unfurl from being squeezed into a fist at his side, as he crouches down next to the tracks through the dirt from when the two police officers had arrived. Whatever Phoebe just did, he can breath a little bit easier. "What're you getting?" Tim asks, directed at her.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney begins a slow careful pacing of the perimeter. Ducking low to the ground to better look for physical tracks and inhaling deeply as she goes. If there's a scent trail to be found she'll pick it up soon enough.

But, likely to the surprise of no-one, it's not looking like the GPD have taken a quick break to buy coffee and donuts. "No," she finally says with a slight shake of her head. "Nor am I picking up any of the scents I'd expect from construction work." Unlikely to be news either. But can't hurt to rule it out for certain. After a short pause she adds "It smells old."

Another pause and then. "Are we expecting a confrontation?" She is, by her standards at least, largely unarmed. Dressed in simple charcoal greys that blend into the background. Not a single gun or bomb to be seen.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Someone is late. This should be a surprise, but it might not be. One moment, everyone is poking around and investigating the goings on, whatever they may be. The next, a shadow seens to loom out of nowhere.

"What's the situation at present?"

The Batman himself has arrived. Everybody be good.

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood watched as Red Robin investigated the area around the front of the stairway. This was not Jasons wheelhouse. In fact the nagging tingle up his spine was telling him he should just turn around and get the hell out of here. He doesn't, at least.

Maybe in part because, well, _He_ showed up out of the aether. As usual. And Phoebe is here. So this just keeps getting more unsettling and interesting at the same time. That can't really be a good thing.

As Batman asks for an update he glowers inside his mask and moves slowly to put more space between them. Tension just went through the roof and his jaw clenched. But at least with whatever Phoebe just did, that tingling in his spine seemed to ease up considerably.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pauses, and then signs to Tim:

    <A lot of Bad. Not quite 'from hell fresh' bad> she signs to Red Robin, and then she takes her eyes off the stairway for a moment as Red Hood makes his approach and X-23 comes around her side. X-23 gets a small nod to her question, and she signs 'always' to her. She takes a deep breath, and stretches her fingers out again as she draws her hood back slightly.

    <I can sense others. Can't tell how many>> comes over the masks, and luckily in text-to-speech to Laura's earpiece, and then Balm goes to cross the line, and takes a look back at Red Robin.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Just as some of the tension begins to unwind from Tim's posture, the arrival of Gotham's Dark Knight prompts it to return. Less "spooky shit's about to go down" and more "uncompromising weight of your mentor's expectations on your shoulders" though, which is a detectable difference.

    Mostly because now Red Robin looks like a soldier awaiting marching orders versus being two seconds away from having to yeet himself out of range of some sort of demon.

    Not that there aren't people in Gotham who think the Batman is a demon.

    Time to report. "Unknown structure appeared through mystical--" Here he pauses as Phoebe signs at him, "Likely demonic means. Two GCPD officers were dispatched to investigate and they've now gone missing. No physical signs of them exiting the area after they arrived." Tim points out the path through the woods into the area that Laura's nose had confirmed were from the cops.

    As he speaks, Tim has side-stepped out of Batman's way. Perceptive folks will have noticed that he's placed himself between Batman and Red Hood. Which, knowing Red Robin, was likely on purpose.

    "Balm senses several entities in the area but that's all we know right now."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Is there a foundation?" Laura asks, stopping suddenly. "I wouldn't expect a supernatural structure to need them." It might not be important, but sometimes small details help you figure out a larger problem!

When Balm confirms there could be potential hostiles in the area she nods in acknowledgement. And then with a distinctive snikt sound pops the claws on one hand. Just in case.

When Batman arrives, as only Batman can, out of seemingly thin air X-23 looks to Tim. Head tilting slightly to one side, then she glances at Jason and raises an eyebrow.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Batman glances at Jason. As always, it's unreadable, but there's nothing hostile in it. After all, while it may chafe a bit, the agreement was struck, and Jason's part of the family still.

At least Red Robin is willing to play ball. The Batman's expression is stony as he listens to the sitrep, all the while looking at the structure. He flits through various light and energy spectrums on his cowl to no real use, but he'd be mad at himself if he didn't.

"Thank you for the update, Red Robin."

He approaches the structure, moving like a liquid shadow, inwardly wondering if they're going to have to go in. ... They're going to have to go in. He glances first to Red Robin, then Red Hood and finally X-23.

"I'm going in. Watch my back."

Then, without another word, Batman crosses the magic circle's threshold, not even flickering an eye at the mystic tingle, and starts up the stairs at a slow, measured and ready pace.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd hated that, as soon as Batman arrived, it went from feeling like it could be a collaborative attempt to understand what was happening to Batman Assuming Direct Control.

His fist clenched then relaxed. He returned the glance Batman and left it at that. As Tim sought to buffer Batman from Jason, more so than the other way around, it seemed to him, Jason just shook his head. Not the time or place. Shit was going on and it was time to focus. Matters of family could keep.

He reads the information from Balm through his mask. And.... Batman just heads in. Great.

Jason moved to follow, but not until Red Robin went ahead first. It was just better that way. His role was now as an extra set of eyes. Unless the need for guns or a crowbar should come up.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <<That may be a bad idea I haven't had the chance to-->> Balm looks peturbed as she attempts to sign to Batman that it was a Bad Idea to go in before she could determine what might have caused the stairway to arrive, but as he walks closer the oppressive omnious feeling gets heavier, like something gleefully holding its breath.

    And a voice crackles over all the communicators, thin and feminine and creaking, like rusted hinges and squeaky boards and the feeling that gets into your teeth at the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

    "Such is the foolishness of man."

    On the Stairs: Batman is ascending slowly and with purpose. There are cold tingles running down his nerves as the woods around him begin to go hazy. Nothing appears to have changed on the mask readouts.

    Around the stairs, Batman appears to go hazy, as if being enveloped in a fog.

    Incoming at Red Hood is a creature, three foot tall with bat wings instead of arms, raising talons to try and rip at his face.

    Incoming at Red Robin is a snarling beast, leaner and bonier than the Demon Dogs of yester year, tiny ears folded back as it attempts to grab at his arm.

    Coming at X-23 is a something large and round, looking like a five-foot wide beach ball made of cemenet and rotting flesh, its head repeatedly thumping against the ground as it tries to make its way coming from the aether to run her over!

    Balm's shield lights up, though she's knocked over by something that looks like a cross between a rabid llama and a monitor lizard!

Tim Drake has posed:
    The lenses of his mask block his eyes, but the cant of Tim's head suggests he's looking directly at Laura. Just for a moment, long enough to give a quick shake of his head. Nope. Best to do what the Bats do best: Not Talk About It.

    Because that's healthy!

    His head turns back to the stairs again, likely to run some sort of scan. It's not the same as ground-penetrating radar, but he can at least confirm, "Yeah. Made of stone, I'd guess."

    Annnnnd that's about when Batman steps forward, towards the staircase. Part of Red Robin wants to object, but there are two reasons holding him back:

    One. While he's never been unwilling to go against Bruce when it counts, it has to... really count.

    And Two. He really wants to know what happens when someone goes up those stairs. Call it obsessive curiosity.

    Still, when a voice echoes over the comms that absolutely shouldn't be on that frequency, Tim regrets not saying anything. "Balm, go after Batman!" Though even as he calls out the order Red Robin catches sight of the llazird -- lizama? whatever -- advancing on her. He backsteps out of the grip of the beast coming at him and leaves an explosive concussion grenade behind as a parting gift while he throws himself at the... --okay, we're just going to call it the llama-lizard -- staff held out in front of him defensively.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Thankfully for Laura she was already on high alert. Or perhaps even higher than usually alert is more appropriate. It is Laura after all. So the sudden arrival of danger is almost a relief. If something is trying to attack her she can fight it.

Her other hands claws pop out with that same snikt. Although louder this time as it's joined by both foot claws.

The huge thing stampeding towards her demands her full attention for now. Thoughts about foundations set aside. She inhales sharply, trying to tell if any of the assailants smell of the GPD officers, and darts to one side.

Her burst of speed is impressive. Mutant enhanced speed and strength giving her inhumanly fast acceleration. And of course if there's no people smell it means they're free game. And anything which gets close will meet whirling adamantium claws.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Chaos erupts behind him, but reality outside of the stairs starts to fade as he ascends. This means he either doesn't notice, or he trusts the people behind him to handle things. He will tell you it's the second, but the reality is it's probably noth. Especially since his technology starts to act up. He frowns at the voice.

"This is my city. You don't belong here, whatever you are."

There he goes again, being all Batman about it. He keeps advancing like a terminator. Implacable. Unstoppable.

Jason Todd has posed:
Because of course it would be a _bat_ trying to attack Jason. Karma really hates him right now.

"Whaat the shii..." He skins his pistols in an instant and is already starting to aim and fire at the bat-thing. Somehow this feels like the wrong move. But it's the play he's made. In for a penny. But then it's closed in on him, causing him to roll to the side, flipping out of the way.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Red Robin intercepts both the snarling beast, leaving an explosive charge in its mouth as it plink-o-plates all over the place, and the llamalizard, who hisses and rears its head back to spit noxious liquid at Red Robin! All it's missing is a rattling frill!

    Laura was already on High Alert, and as the huge, massive creature rolls closer and closer to her she accelerates and whirls, claws sinking in and releasing the stench of grave rot, and grinding slightly against the concrete-like bone inside.

    "HURRR -- that tickles!" Ball groans, and then whips around to try and smash his meaty palm into X-23's head.

    Well, yes. Jason used up all his good karma at the haunted house, but luckily he 's still got a lot of skill. THe bat-creature screetches, its claws falling short of its target as it flicks backwards, and then tries to reach back out with its feet and snag one of Jason's ankles!

    Phoebe just gave a nod, and she goes in low and fast, coming up the stairs and behind Batman. The young mage taking out her own staff, and letting it extend as she looks up to Batman's back.

    "I belong everywhere that hatred and jealousy follows, Batman. I smell the stink of something that belongs to mine on you and yours." the voice replies to Batman. "How many lives shall we trade?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    The end of Red Robin's staff aims up at the llama-lizard's chin, and whether or not it impacts will likely be the deciding factor between the end of his cape being singed by noxious liquid or him having to ditch the entire thing before whatever that thing just spit on him eats all the way through.

    Either way, he rolls to the side and pops back up in a flanking position, staff whirling through the air once more to strike at the creature's side, electricity crackling from its tip.

    << Batman, Balm, do either of you copy? >> he calls out over comms.

    Every part of him wants to look away, towards the staircase, peer through the fog that has begun to cover it, but he resists the urge. Barely.

Laura Kinney has posed:
That incoming strike represents an opportunity for Laura. Bending low to duck out of the way she drives her claws up. Where there is a palm there's usually a wrist near by. And joints are always weak points.

Wrist. Then Elbow. A Shoulder. Section by section. Snikt Snikt Snikt.

Her claws might not be long enough for an instant kill. But they're still deadly when used correctly. And Laura will make a thousand cuts if needed!

Bruce Wayne has posed:
This staircase seems endless. He, of course, notices Balm come up behind him, and he looks back briefly and gives her a single, silent nod. That's something, right? It may as well be a reassuring smile for how expressive he is.

"This world and whatever's in it, that you didn't send, does not belong to you. Hate and envy are some of the basest human emotions. They don't belong to you. Neither do the people who are touched by it." His teeth grit at the last part.

"No lives are getting traded. You're going back to where you belong."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd had avoided the brunt of the attack from the bat-thing. But as he rolls away, it whips around and grabs his ankle. "Oh hell no!" He rolls onto his back, pistols shoved close to the ugly little spud and he empties the last of each clip into it at point blank range while working to free his ankle by kicking at the thing's leg with his other foot.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The technology is fritzy within the stairwell. Those on the outside would see the hazy forms of Phoebe and Bruce in their respective outfits, though it appears to waver. Colors appearing and disappearing. Shadows and people passing Batman and Phoebe's shapes.

    Inside the stairwell, Balm gives another small nod to Batman, acknowledging him, as she stays close. She's shaking, and trying to hide it, hearing the creaking voice around them.

    Then a voice calls out -- "Batman?"

    THe two police officers are above them on this never ending stairway. They're bound up in vines and thin gold chains. "Oh God, it's Batman! We're saved, Stevens!" one of them calls out, reaching out to try and shake the other one awake.

    The creature takes the staff to the chin, its spit launched into the air and coming down on itself. It hisses and wails, a whip-like tail coming around to try and strike Red Robin's shoulder as the hound-like creature snarls and leaps at Jason!

    The ugly little sput squeals and then is blasted out of the air, and to pieces as both clips empty into it, the creature disintegrating before Red Hood's eyes!

    The ball-boy after Laura is taken apart, bit by bit by the mutant, falling to pieces and then turning to ash to be swept up and added back into the circle. There's a low pulse of energy, something stomach-turning and dark. That rumble before your stomach lets go.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Both Red Hood and X-23 are having comparatively easier times downing the creatures that had sprung upon them than Red Robin is. For the most part he's fighting defensively, staff whirling to deflect attacks while the rest of him remains out of range. Which requires leaping over exposed tree roots and other bits of regular forest detritus, Tim relying on what he remembers from his examination of the area prior to Batman's arrival (and subsequent semi-disappearance up the staircase).

    "No response on comms!" he calls out, more a confirmation of what everyone would have already (not) heard than anything new. Then Tim's busy jumping up to grab a low-hanging tree limb and vault over the tail that comes whipping at him, landing roughly in the dirt several meters away.

    It's breathing room, but even with the reinforced armor at his knees, Tim feels a jolt of force through his legs that keeps him on the ground for a second longer than he should be, so he's immediately back on defense again.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman actually moves quickly this time, racing up the stairs in silence. He produces a Batarang and begins to cut through the vines to free the two officers, taking a moment to enjoy the fact that the voice hasn't talked again in a moment.

"Balm," is all he says. She knows what she's supposed to do here. It's in her name and everything.

All the while, he's keeping an eye out the old fashioned way. Something is obviously close.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd reloaded his pistols in the wake of taking down the bat-thing. But as he rose to his feet he saw the hound-creature.. thing.. coming at him. Gritting his teeth, he raises his guns again to unleash the hollow point slugs into the thing. The question was less of whether he would hit but whether he would stop or slow it down?

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm comes up behind Batman, quietly using one of her own throwing knives to separate the chains and help free the police officers -- but at the command she balks, she hesitates, then turns back to th e two officers.

    She pulls off her gloves, and Batman would see that there was blood beneath her fingernails.

    There are further calls for help, some weakly from above them.

    Outside the stairwell, the llamalizard rattles and begins to give chase, its protruding teeth trying to snap at Red Robin's heals and cape, trying to grab at him, each attempt to grab is trying to push him closer to the ring of protection that Phoebe had set up. It's trying to herd him into the oppressive magic.

    The hound creature, on the other hand, has its glowing yellow eyes set on Red Hood as it snarps. The slugs break through the head and back of it, snapping a bone like carapace and making noxious black echor drip -- it slows it down -- enough for him to try and get some distance.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman, whether he looks it or not, is appreciative of all of his family when they're here to help him out. He also cares. A lot. The frown that crosses his face at the blood under her fingernails is a slipping of the mask. An almost fatherly concern. It's gone as quickly as it arrived, though.

"Officer," he says to the one that's awake. "If you're strong enough, carry your partner out of here. It sounds like there's others ahead."

He looks at Phoebe once agan before he turns and starts taking the stairs two at a time.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd doesn't stop firing, but he dances backwards as he finishes off both clips into the ugly thing. "Dammit why do they have to be so hard to kill?" At least this time Batman can't blow him up for killing these things. They started it! He's just finishing it.

But it keeps coming and there is no time to reload. In a fluid motion he holsters both weapons and reaches up to pull the crowbar from behind his back, winding up for a swing to knock the thing out of the park. As it were.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Red Robin's cape is already tattered at the end thanks to some noxious spit, which is an aesthetic of a certain kind but not really what Tim's going for. And then it's beset upon by chomping lizard teeth (maybe we're assuming which half of the llama-lizard is which, here) and that snaps Tim backwards mid-step.

    The thing, though, is that happens all the time with capes. So there are quick release snaps that Tim reaches up for and undoes with one practiced motion, and he tumbles forward, coming within a hair's breadth of the magical circle.

    As in his hair is long enough that it basically grazes the circle. Seriously. A close call.

    Which doesn't leave a lot of room for Tim to maneuver, though he tosses out another concussive grenade in the hopes of it giving him a chance to rise to his feet.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The officer look dubious, but Balm knows her duty.

    She closes her eyes, her hands drawing up. She closes her eyes, and she concentrates. There is the sound of fabric ripping behind Batman, of metal rending, and the two officers are gone, and Balm is stumbling up behind Batman. There is howling of wind, coming, and the oppressive feeling of magic gets stronger in the stairwell.

    The officers appear on the outside of the ring, tumbling down on one another. The conscious officer cries out for help, reaching towards the Bat Boys.

    "Batman is on the stairs! They'll make him keep climbing until he tires out!" she calls out, trying to drag the other officer, who's waking up but not quite there yet.

    The Llama lizard snarls, makes another attempt, this time to bite at Tim's hair, but then is struck by the concussive grenade -- it's enough to make the ribcage of the lizard split open, a secondary mouth beneath it showing, spreading, screaming, and then turning to ash.

    Now all that's left is the bone dog -- which gets a swing to the jaw and then with a scream like a hellcat gets knocked back through the circle, where it snapws its head back, and then also begins to ash.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman is here to save people, to stop this or both. He heads up another couple flights, thinking. He places one more foot down and stops, almost groaning at his own foolishness.

"This," he rumbles. "Is a pitcher plant."

He takes another look around, frowning hard. "This thing, whatever it is, is feeding. I should have guessed it when I saw the police officers. It draws people in with the feelings, then ... consumes their energy." He grunts. "Balm, can you think of a way to send this thing back where it belongs? Even if we can't get out, you might have to do it."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd should have yelled 'Fore!' before he swung the crowbar. But he didn't. Still. The results were pretty damned satisfying as the thing flames out of existence. He paused a moment, looking to Red Robin, "I'm good. You good?" Then he moves to help the officers get farther away from the stairs and the barrier. "Hey, it's okay. We've got this." Do we?

"Take it easy. Let's get you a bit farther away, yeah?" He tries to help both officers, figuring at this point Red Robin is the one that needs to be free to plan their next move out here. Unless he decides they need to go in after Batman and Balm. Because that would probably suck. A lot.

Tim Drake has posed:
    The monsters on this side of the circle are still fading into ash as Red Robin swings back up to his feet. He doesn't quite stagger, but he's a bit unsteady for a moment, until he's managed to inch his way away from the protective circle.

    "It's fine," Tim confirms, backing Jason up with a nod of his head towards the officers. "He's Batman."

    And do you really need to say anything else?

    He stands near the edge of the circle, arms crossed over his chest. The tilt of his chin is upwards, as he looks up towards the top of the staircase.

    Quietly, so as to not be overheard, he says <<Two more minutes and then one of us goes up there with a rope tied around our waist, Poltergeist-style.>>

    Which is a deep cut for someone of Tim's age, but that was definitely on the "must watch" list for horror films when the Outsiders were bringing the surprisingly long list of alt-universe/future-visitor/newly-born-but-aged-up members up to speed on pop culture.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm just gives a nod. It is, indeed, a trap. She considers a moment as she glances around, and then she gives a dire nod, and reaches into her side pouch.

    She's got chalk, she's got some flamable items, and a BIC lighter with a pentagram on it. Mostly for show. She gives a small shrug and a wince. She looks to Batman, and then to her reagents, and then back to him.

    Are you sure? She's almost confident that she can do it.

    Outside, the police officers are helped to the edge, the other coming back out out of his sleep with some acid burns on his hands, like a bad sunburn, but he starts yelling about the yellow eyes.

    All of the creatures that had come out of this stairwell encounter had yellow eyes -- what could be in there that has them too?

    The wind begins to pick up, and that creepy, creakey voice comes over the coms again, just giving a low groan as if trying to expell something with great effort.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman looks Balm in the eyes. It's hard to look Batman in the eye by design. He is an incredibly imposing figure, his entire look and presence designed to cause fear. This is different somehow. He relaxes his jaw, his posture. For a moment, he doesn't look like Batman, but Bruce Wayne in the Batsuit.

"Do it, Balm. I believe in you."

After that instant, it's over. The Dark Knight is back. Tall and almost lordly in his bearing. A Lord of Terror, maybe.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd gets the officers away and trots back over to stand a couple meters from Red Robin. <<Alright... but I hope you keep a tight hold on the line. If I get sucked into oblivion, I'm coming back to haunt your sockdrawer.>>

Wait. Did he just almost volunteer to go in?

Tim Drake has posed:
    And thus begins the wait. Tim's the kind of anal-retentive person that he actually puts a timer up in the corner of his HUD... and shares it out so that Jason can see it inside his helmet, too.

    His fingers dig into his arms as much as possible given the armor-plating, which is to say... yeah, there's not much give. "Probably better if I go in," he says, once Red Hood is next to him. "You've got..." Pause, side-glance. "About fifty pounds on me?"

    1:43... 1:42... 1:41... "Also you're stronger than me."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm gives a nod.

    The teenage mage takes the chalk and she crushes it in her hand, and brings her other hand up to her throat. She tries to relax the tightness in her throat and that awful beating in her chest.

    Her voice is a throaty whisper; it hurts to cast.

    The temperature around Batman and the young mage begins to drop, quickly approaching freezing from the hot June night.

    Ligatus daemonium -- Hoc amplius obligo intrusionem. Et hanc scalam dele Ignis quem maiores mei dederunt mihi in sanguine meo postulat ut hunc locum abeas! Recedite, daemonium vinctum! she sets the fibers on fire, tracing chalk on the stairwell, and she focuses all of her energy that she can spare, feeling blood in her throat.

    The glowing circle of rose-gold outside begins to receed, drawing back towards the stairway and consensing the 'bad vibes'. Unfortunately this makes the rest of Gotham feel almost good instead of its usual anxious.

    While the countdown timer ticks down, the ashes of the creatures dismissed burn a little bit brighter, and then are taken away on the breeze.

    The hissing, creaking voice can be heard beginning to screech, in rage and pain.

    And the stairway glows an angry, burning orange. The heat in the park returns, though currently at Daytime in the Hot, Sticky Summer levels.

    The stairs are shuddering, as if trying to dislodge Batman and Balm from their dangerous perches and off into the aether around them!

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman frowns slightly at Phoebe's obvious pain. He is not a fan of people he has chosen to be part of his life hurting. He is also not a fan of getting shunted into the aether when Zatanna's not around to fish him out. So, like any (mostly) sane man, he does what he has to.

In this case, it's grab Balm, throw her over his shoulder, and book it down the stairs as fast as he can. Sometimes he will even jump most of a flight of stairs, landing with a grunt of pain as he takes all of the impact so as not to cause Phoebe any more pain.

He can only hope he's fast enough.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd snorts at Tim. "Because that's the real reason. It's fine. I'll be your anchor. But you better come back out. I don't want to have to find another brother." He almost sounds like he means it?

Tim Drake has posed:
    They're still waiting. Tim's jaw is set, though he does look over to Jason so that he can shake his head. "It is. I might have more practical experience with magic but that doesn't change the fact that I have no actual skill. We're both basically screwed if we go in there and they're already down."

    The seriousness of his expression is plenty indicator that he's already run the odds and doesn't like what the results are. His arms hitch a little bit closer to himself, a subconscious gesture. "...Thanks, though."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    On the way down balm is flailing because you don't just grab a spellcaster in the middle of casting something in LATIN, that's a terrible habbit to be in, and she's nowhere near as strong as Zatanna! She finishes her spell cast, and she wipes the chalk against the bannister as the stairwell begins to grow hotter and hotter -- untill suddenly from the shrinking circle the steps and treads give way to grass, the fuzzy and colored shapes surrounding Batman and Balm fade out to the trees of Robinson Park as Batman takes the brunt of the landing damage, and Balm lands on him. Her hand is briefly on fire, matching the suddenly flame-consumed staircase.

    THe creaky voice screams in dark tones with words that would grind against normal ears, and Balm is coughing, the spasms wracking her body.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman outwardly no-sells the impact with the ground, filing it away to deal with when he gets home. Alfred will lecture and he will take it good-naturedly. Some things never change.

Balm crashes into him, but he's fast and sure enough to twist and catch her, settling her on the ground and doing his best to smother the flames with his cape. "Are you alright?" 'Maybe you should take a break, Phoebe,' he thinks.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks to Tim, pulling out a grapple line. "Alright. We're really doing this?" And as he asks, they no longer appear to need to be doing 'this' as Batman and Balm crash land ot the ground in front of them.

"Whoa.." Jason moves toward them, looking to offer a hand to Balm and help her up. ".. uh. is this good, that you're out here? Or is this a bad thing?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim's shoulders bunch up and he nods, gathering the willpower to yeet himself into the unknown towards what is, in his estimate, almost certain death.

    Just your average Tuesday, right? Wait... what day is it, anyway?

    But then instead he's quick-stepping backwards out of the way as Bruce and Phoebe come crashing down from... somewhere... upwards? Yeah, Tim does briefly glance upwards, before he crouches down next to Batman. "Both GCPD officers came back down. Minor injuries, the one that was unconscious came to and said something about yellow eyes." He starts cycling through the frequencies on their communication network, looking for one that Spooky Disembodied Voice isn't screaming obscenities at them on.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe, still coughing, gives a thumbs up to answer all questions regarding her state of being, the state of their being here, and general reflection of how she is currently handling things and drags herself up to a stand. The stairway is on fire, and then it collapses in on itself, then disperses out as foul-smelling ash.

    The Stairway is no more, and more importantly it does not re-appear wherever it was originally set to capture souls. That's a good thing. Her hand on fire is put out, but doesn't seem any worse for wear. Phoebe makes a face, her nose wrinkling, her lips drawing together, and as Tim searches for frequencies, the disembodied voice seeming to fade out with the disappearance of the stairwell, she teeters a moment, then gives a soft 'hrk' sound, and spits reddish sputum to the side, trying to be polite.

    Police have recovered the two officers and are giving them a medical exam. They're cautiously sending a special unit through the trees to determine if the Bats need help.

    They definitely are not going to find Laura, who is permitting them to pass by unharassed.